Short intermission

I thought i’d put in a short (pun intended) intermission here with a pony I rode for a few years. My next actual horse story is another sad one, and it felt a bit too dark to write after Elvis’s.

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When we arrived in Brisbane and I found myself without a horse to ride/train/compete due to Elvis being out of action for so long, I took to the internet and found myself a show pony!

When I first went and met PeeWee I didn't realise how small 12.1hh actually was... it is tiny! So I tediously rode him and this guy was… very very broken! He is the stiffest, laziest, most unwielding horse (pony!) i've ever ridden. After 5 minutes I was exhausted and puffing like i’d run a marathon... My legs ached from trying to keep him going, my arms ached from constantly trying to soften his braced neck and I was struggling to catch my breath.

I was told a very brief run down of Pee Wee’s history, to which some or all was true, but in any case, someone (or many) had scarred this pony so much he was terrified of the bit and any pressure from the reins and had pretty much shut down to all communication from the rider. So what did I do, but agree to train and compete him.

I started riding him once per week, with his owner lunging him once or twice. Our first shows were… interesting, but somewhere along the line he decided to take a chance on me and we became a pretty formidable team.

We went out and had a ball, laughing at judges and spectators questioning my age (they thought I was a child, when I was in my twenties). We won numerous champions and held our own against horses triple our size, winning three Australian Titles.

As I started to ride Elvis again and train with my new coach, we started dabbling in pony dressage and were training medium level, with only 1 ride per week.

Over the few years, Pee Wee and I got to know each other pretty well... I knew exactly when his owner snuck him rice bran oil (a bit like rocket fuel) and he knew he could trust me enough to let loose and have a little fun every now and again. Fuelled by rice bran oil, he’d have a few yee ha moments and i'd just laugh at him and continue on with no ramifications (and then tell the owner to stop feeding it to him… again!).

2 of these photos were saved over 10 years ago from AJL photography, who I can’t find online.

As I moved more into dressage, started Audrey under saddle and my late dad passed away, I focussed more on me and my horses and ran out of time for Pee Wee. Pee Wee was leased out and later sold to a child to enjoy. I believe he had a pretty great end to his life.

I almost bought a pony instead of Audrey because of how much fun I had on this lil guy. And I still miss riding him to this day.

Below are photos of another little welsh pony I had the pleasure of photographing a few years ago.